English

Double well ground state energy splitting (or instanton flipping rate); rendering the implicit explicit

Quantum Physics 2024-03-28 v1

Abstract

A prime example of quantum tunnelling is the semiclassical 'energy splitting' of the levels of a symmetrical double well potential, or equivalently the flipping rate of an instanton. Curiously the accepted expression for the ground state energy splitting in terms of the (smooth) potential function has not been pursued to the full explicitness available from classical mechanics. This implicitness is rectified here.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2403.18050,
  title  = {Double well ground state energy splitting (or instanton flipping rate); rendering the implicit explicit},
  author = {J. H. Hannay},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.18050},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T15:34:43.394Z